Chapter 1: Introduction to Gender Sustainability

Gender sustainability integrates the principles of gender equity with sustainable development. It emphasizes equal rights, responsibilities, and opportunities for all genders, influencing a nation’s progress in achieving long-term ecological, economic, and social well-being. The United Nations’ sustainability objectives in 1987 propelled this growing emphasis by redefining sustainable development as meeting the current demands while safeguarding the resources and opportunities required by future generations. These aspirations are encapsulated in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) manifesting various areas. Therefore, this chapter introduces a thematic structure that captures the productive tensions between the concepts of “gender” and “sustainability,” developing a framework that aligns gender equality (SDG 5) with all the SDGs for a more comprehensive approach to sustainability. The theoretical synthesis assimilates feminist sociology and intersectionality, highlighting the importance of considering multiple identities and holistic approaches in sustainability efforts. This framework offers a foundation for policies, practices, and research and is crucial for unveiling the discursive construction of gender as well as the analysis of reproductions of inequalities at global, national, or everyday life levels. This chapter begins with defining the key concepts: gender as the social and cultural attributes associated with being male, female, or queer and sustainability as the maintenance of ecological, economic, and social systems over the long term. It further explores interwoven topics like economic autonomy, educational access, health equity, civic engagement, and cultural conventions, demonstrating the reciprocal influence of unsustainable environmental effects that distribute unevenly and reproduce intersectional inequalities based on gender, race, class, age, and geography.